OCS Director of Data Cabling and Networks Appointed as New SELECT President 

We are pleased to announce that Mike Stark, OCS Director of Data Cabling and Networks has been appointed President of Scotland’s largest construction industry trade association, SELECT. 

Mike has spent 44 years in the electrical industry, with 40 of those years in continued service at OCS, starting at Arthur McKay as a qualified electrician in June 1984 to his current role. 

He was confirmed as the new SELECT President at the association’s AGM at the Doubletree Edinburgh North Queensferry on Thursday, June 6, taking over from Alistair Grant. 

During his two years in the Presidential hot-seat, Mike said he is looking forward to meeting SELECT members to learn about issues in the electrical industry and to maintaining the association’s ongoing campaign to have the role of an electrician recognised as a profession. 

In his role as president, Mike is looking to target three key concerns: the growing appetite and electricity demands from new technology like AI and electric vehicles, the regulation of electricians as a profession and the push for more apprentices to secure the profession’s future. 

On the demand for electricity, Mike said: “AI is becoming more embedded in our everyday lives, from digital assistants and chatbots helping us on websites to navigation apps and autocorrect on our mobile phones. And it is going to become even more prevalent in the near future.  

“Data centres, which have many servers as their main components, need electrical power to survive. It is therefore only natural that any talk about building a data centre should begin with figuring out the electrical needs and how to satisfy those power requirements.  

“At present, the UK’s National Grid appears to be holding its own, with current increases being met with renewable energy systems. But as technology advances and systems such as AI are introduced, there will be a time when the grid will struggle to support the demand.” 

We congratulate Mike on his appointment and wish him a successful tenure. To learn more about Mike’s new role and his campaigns within SELECT visit the campaign page at www.select.org.uk/.